The name comes from a patch of bristly
scales above each eye that tend to look like eyelashes.

They tend to reach from 22-32 inches
in length.

Color has a great variety that usually
depends on the geographical origin of snake..

Have a pair of heat-sensitive pits
between the eyes and nostrils.

They tend to have very long fangs.

General information:

The
eyelash viper is a nocturnal, arboreal animal. This means that it
does most of its hunting from late evening through early morning,
and more than likely in, from, or around trees. When subduing its
prey, the snake grabs it and holds on while it injects a hemotoxic
venom. The snake holds on until the animal is dead and then proceeds
to swallow it by "walking" it down the throat by moving one side of
its jaw at a time. Eyelast vipers are usually not known to
be an aggressive snake, however it strikes instantly if anyone brushes
against it. Vipers are also one of the most dangerous of the poisonous
snakes on Central America. Their venom affects the central nervous
system of their victim as well as the cardiovascular system. With
small animals the venom can kill within minutes, but larger animals rarely
succumb unless the viper manages to inject a large amount of venom into
the victim.

Because the viper is arboreal, most bites
to humans are to hands, fingers and occasionally to the face. They
usually result in lots of pain, swelling, bleb formation, bruising and
sometimes necrosis, that may lead to contraction or even amputation.
The most common effects that happen from the venom are vomiting, diarrhea,
prostration, or sometimes loss of conciousness. There are sometimes
very severe cases that lead to death, mainly to crop farmers and plantation
workers.

Oh, a word of warning, sometimes vipers get
accidently shipped overseas in banana shipments, so be careful if you have
to open any up.

Vipers use their sense of smell to find mates.
The males go through an amazing thing called "the dance of the adders"
when they are competing for the same female. They face each
other with the head and the forepart of the body held erect, while trying
to puch the other to the ground. This sometimes can go on for hours.
The ironic thing is that during this competing there is no biting from
either contestant.

Vipers bear litters of 6 to 20 live young that range
in length from 5 to 8 inches. The young look exactly like the adult
except they are smaller.

Did you know:

That the eyelash vipers are named for
the pointed scales above their eyes.

The eyelash vipers can be recognized
by its color and triangular shaped head.

Their scales are rough and sharp suspected
to protect them against the branches and vines of their arboreal habitat,
unlike most snakes whose scales are smooth.

It has a prehensile tail.

They can exhibit about five different
color phases.

The eyelash viper is one of the smallest
poisonous snakes in Central America, but one of the most dangerous.

They usually don't bite humans unless
they feel threatened, by teasing or trampling.

They can carry diseases.

There is a joke in Costa Rica about
vipers: they say, "if you're looking down, your're going to be bitten
by the Eyelash Viper. If you are always looking up, it will be (Velvet
Death)."

They have been inadvertantly been sent
throughout the world in banana shipments.

Special anatomical,
physiological or behavioral adaptations:

The
viper has an unsual but quite normal special adaptation. It has the
ability to catch and eat its food while suspending it-self in midair
off of a branch.

The coloration of the snakes
in certain parts of the world also is a great adaptation. I say this
because a number of color variants exist that help the snake to "comouflage"
itself, in order to strike at prey easier from hiding. The "eyelashes"
on the vipers can also help camouflage the snake. They make it harder
for prey and enemies to distinguish the snakes from surrounding foliage..